EDWARD McGUIRE's Celtic opera, The Loving of Etain, had its premiere
in those hazy capital days of 1990. Then it was fully staged. Last night
it was revived in a semi-staged version. Some who saw it first time
round claimed that the new version was clearer, offering more
involvement in the music, less theatrical baggage.
What could have been clearer was the cast's enunciation of Marianne
Carey's text. Honestly, from the back of the hall, with the exception of
the impeccable Henry Herford (in the role of the Celtic king) a mere
fraction of the text was distinguishable. Partly the sound of the band
(the admirable Paragon Ensemble conducted by David Davies) overwhelmed,
whether by volume or texture. But even when the group was at its most
delicate I was fighting to hear the words. They were simply not being
articulated.
I wouldn't bother spending time on it had the singing voices not been
(in the main) impressive and the music so first-rate. This is a
tremendous composition; instantly attractive, packed with subtleties,
and brilliantly sustained -- to construct an entire scene basically on a
folk melody is quite an achievement. The opera moves from ripplingly
evocative music of the ''other world'' to the more banal world of
mortals whose music is propelled by more ''earthly'' syncopated rhythm,
and back again.
The music for Etain herself (ecstatically sung by Sally-Ann
Sheperdson) is among McGuire's most ravishing. Other roles were sung by
Lousie Nicholson, Christopher Hobkirk, and Mark Oldfield.
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